Termination cap for use in wired network management system

1. A termination unit for use in a wired computing network having a plurality of end-user devices, the termination unit comprising: a jack having an opening sized to receive a plug connector, and a termination face for terminating wires of a network cable thereto, said jack further including a plurality of conductive terminals disposed within said opening and extending to the jack termination face for connecting to the wires of the network cable, said jack further including a shutter movably mounted within the jack opening; and at least one electronic element having a first impedance value, the electronic element being operatively connected to the shutter, the shutter being moveable between first and second operative positions, wherein in the first operative position, the electronic element is not connected to said terminals and in the second operative position, said electronic element is connected to said terminals to provide a second impedance value across said two terminal that is different than the first impedance value.

2. The termination unit of claim 1 , wherein said electronic element is chosen from the group consisting of resistors, capacitors, inductors or combinations thereof.

3. The termination unit of claim 1 , wherein said shutter is closed when in said first operative position and said shutter is open when in said second operative position.

4. An endcap for a work area outlet, the work area outlet having a termination face with a plurality of data transmission wires terminated thereto and the endcap providing a sensing circuit with a preselected impedance for connecting across two of the terminated wires, said endcap comprising: an insulative body portion, having opposing first and second faces, the first face including a plurality of engagement members for engaging the termination face of said work area outlet, the engagement members being arranged thereupon in two distinct rows separated by an intervening space, the second face supporting a circuit substrate thereupon, the body portion further including a slot disposed in the body portion intervening space and extending through said body portion between said first and second faces; and a pair of conductive terminals supported by said body portion, the terminals including opposing contact and termination ends, the terminals extending longitudinally through said body portion such that termination ends contact the circuit substrate and said contact ends extend within one of said rows of engagement members, said circuit substrate further including the sensing circuit with an electronic element connected to said terminals, whereby, when said endcap is affixed to said work area outlet termination face, said engagement members engage said termination face and said terminals make contact with two of said data transmission wires to define a sensing circuit therebetween with a given impedance value.

5. The endcap of claim 4 , wherein said data transmission outlet is an Ethernet jack.

6. The endcap of claim 4 , wherein said termination face includes a plurality of insulation displacement terminals that are housed in slots of said termination face, and said engagement members extend from said base portion to engage the slots.

7. The endcap of claim 4 , wherein said terminals include pogo-pin terminals.

8. The endcap of claim 4 , wherein said endcap engagement members are arrayed in two distinct arrays, each array including a pair of side walls interconnected together by multiple interconnecting walls, said terminals being disposed within one of said arrays, each one of said terminals being respectively aligned with two of the interconnecting walls.

9. The endcap of claim 8 , wherein each interconnecting wall includes a notch centrally disposed therein, the notch having a first depth sufficient not to contact said IDC terminals of said jack.

10. The endcap of claim 9 , wherein two of said notches have a second depth, the second depth being greater than said first depth, and one of said terminals is aligned with each of said two notches.

11. The endcap of claim 10 , where said terminals are disposed on said body portion on one side of said slot.

12. The endcap of claim 8 , wherein said terminals have a height greater than said notch first depth.

13. The endcap of claim 4 , where said electronic element is chosen from the group consisting of resistors, capacitors, inductors or combinations of the same.

14. A termination element for engaging a work area outlet of a data transmission network, the termination element including means for providing a sensing circuit at the work area outlet, said work area outlet including a mating face for connecting to an end-user device and a terminating face to which a network cable is terminated, the network cable including a plurality of differential signal wire pairs, the work area outlet terminating face including a plurality of insulation displacement technology (“IDT”) terminals, each of the IDT terminals adapted to engage a single wire of said network cable, the termination element comprising: a housing, the housing supporting a circuit substrate thereon, the circuit substrate including at least one sensing circuit that includes at least one electronic element having a preselected impedance, said housing and the circuit substrate including a cable receiving slot for permitting the connecting of said termination element to said work area outlet terminating face over said network cable; a plurality of engagement members disposed in two arrays on a mating face of said housing, the engagement member arrays being spaced apart from each other by an intervening space and the cable-receiving slot being disposed in the intervening space, each engagement member array including a pair of sidewalls that are interconnected by transverse walls, the transverse walls being arranged in a pattern in alignment with respective engagement slots of said work area outlet terminating face and with said IDT terminals disposed thereon; and a pair of conductive terminals supported in said housing and aligned with two of said IDT terminals supported by said work area outlet terminating face, the terminals including opposing tail and contact ends, the tail ends thereof being connected to the sensing circuit of said circuit substrate, said terminals extending away from said circuit substrate within one of said engagement member arrays and between the sidewalls of the one engagement member array, said transverse walls each including a notch formed therein, said terminals being disposed within two respective adjacent notches of said transverse walls, said sensing circuit contacting terminals of said work area outlet when said termination element is engaged therewith to thereby change the resistance of the work area outlet when a network device is connected thereto.

15. The termination element of claim 14 , wherein said terminals each include a base portion and a tip portion held within the base portion and a biasing spring interposed between the base and tip portions, the biasing spring permitting said terminal tip portions to deflect under a termination pressure when said termination element is mated to said work area outlet terminating face.

16. The termination element of claim 14 , wherein said terminals include pogo-pin terminals.

17. The termination element of claim 14 , where said electronic element is a resistor with value of at least about 1,000,000 ohms.

18. The termination element of claim 14 , wherein said terminals are disposed on said housing to contact said IDT terminals connected to different pairs of differential signal wires of said network cable to define a resistance circuit connected to said work area outlet.

19. The termination element of claim 14 , wherein said electronic element is chosen from the group consisting of resistors, capacitors, inductors or combinations thereof.

20. A termination unit for use in a wired computing network interconnecting together a plurality of end-user, the termination unit comprising: a jack having an opening sized to receive a plug connector, and a termination face for terminating wires of a network cable thereto, said jack further including a plurality of conductive terminals disposed within said opening and extending to the jack termination face for connecting to the wires of the network cable; and at least one electronic element having an measurable sensing value and a discrete electronic identifier associated therewith that is capable of being read by a scanner connected to the network, the discrete electronic identifier identifying said jack to the scanner, upon request from the scanner.

21. A termination element for engaging a connection point on a data transmission network, the termination element including means for providing a sensing circuit at the connection point, the connection points being interconnected on the network by network cables including a plurality of differential signal wire pairs, said connection points further including a plurality of conductive terminals adapted to connect with single wires of said network cable, the termination element comprising: a housing, the termination element housing supporting a circuit substrate thereon, the circuit substrate including at least one sensing circuit that includes at least one electronic element having a preselected impedance, and said termination housing including a mating face for mating with said connection points; at least one engagement member disposed on a mating face of said housing; and a pair of conductive members supported in said termination element housing and aligned with two of said connection point terminals, the conductive members being connected to the sensing circuit of said circuit substrate, said sensing circuit contacting said conductive members of said work area outlet when said termination element is engaged therewith to thereby change the impedance of said connection point when a network cable is connected thereto.

22. A method, in a data network having a plurality of work area outlets, of determining if an end-user device is connected to any of the work area outlets, comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of work area outlets; connecting terminals of the work area outlets to network cables, each of the network cables containing multiple data transmission wires, each such wire being terminated to a work area outlet terminal, the wires being arranged in pairs for transmitting differential signals within the network; providing termination units for connection to the work area outlets, each of the termination units including a housing supporting a sensing circuit, the termination unit housing including a slot for permitting the said network cable to pass through the termination unit, a plurality of engagement members disposed in two arrays on said housing and which are spaced apart from each other by an intervening space and the cable-receiving slot being disposed in the intervening space, each engagement member array including a pair of sidewalls that are interconnected by transverse walls which are aligned with respective terminals of said housing, disposed thereon, and a pair of conductive terminals supported in said housing and aligned with two of said IDC terminals, the terminals including tail ends connected to the sensing circuit and contact ends for engaging said IDC terminals; connecting said termination units to said outlets so that said termination unit terminal contact ends contact said work are outlet terminals to connect the sensing circuits, in parallel, to two of said network cable wires so as to form a parallel sensing circuit between two wires of said network cable which are chosen from two distinct differential signal pairs of wires of said network cable, the sensing circuit having a first impedance value which is different than a second impedance value of a network device; and reading the impedance at said work area outlet, the first impedance value indicating that no end-user device is connected and the second impedance value indicating that an end-user device is connected to said work area outlet.